1130s in England

Events from the 1130s in England.

Incumbents

• Monarch – Henry I (to 1 December 1135), then Stephen

Events

• 1130
• New choir of Canterbury Cathedral completed.
• 1131
• 8 September – the barons swear allegiance to Matilda, now countess of Anjou, as the true heir of her father, Henry I of England.
• Cistercians found Rievaulx Abbey in Yorkshire.
• Gilbertine Order of nuns founded by Gilbert of Sempringham in Lincolnshire, the only completely English religious order.
• 1132
• Benedictines found Fountains Abbey in Yorkshire.
• 1133
• August – King Henry I leaves England for the last time for Normandy.
• A royal charter establishes the first annual Bartholomew Fair at Smithfield, London; later to become England's largest cloth fair.
• First Bishop of Carlisle (Æthelwold) consecrated.
• Rebuilt Exeter Cathedral consecrated.
• 1135
• 26 May – the Great Fire of 1135 destroys the wooden London Bridge and seriously damages St Paul's Cathedral.
• 1 December – King Henry I dies (at Lyons-la-Forêt in Normandy) having nominated Matilda as his heir.
• 22 December – Stephen of Blois, nephew of Henry I, claims the throne.
• 26 December – coronation of Stephen of England at Westminster Abbey by William de Corbeil, Archbishop of Canterbury.
• Bruton Abbey, Buildwas Abbey and Byland Abbey founded, the latter in January by the Congregation of Savigny.
• 1136
• 1 January – revolt in Wales; Welsh capture Swansea and Cardigan from the Normans.
• 4 January – Henry I is buried in his foundation, Reading Abbey (tomb dedicated 1 December).
• 5 February – by the Treaty of Durham, Stephen concedes Cumberland to David I of Scotland.
• Hospital of St Cross, an almshouse in Winchester, is established by Bishop Henry of Blois; it will still be functioning in the 21st century.
• Geoffrey of Monmouth writes .
• 1137
• March – Stephen fails in his attempt to re-capture Normandy from Matilda.
• 3 June – a fire severely damages Rochester Cathedral, but it is soon rebuilt.
• 4 June – a fire destroys much of the city of York, including 39 churches and York Minster, but the latter is soon rebuilt.
• 27 June – a fire severely damages the city of Bath, Somerset.
• 1138
• January–February – King David I of Scotland raids Northumberland, taking the Bishop of Durham's Norham Castle (garrisoned only by nine), and besieges the castle at Wark on Tweed.
• 10 April – Robert Warelwast is nominated as Bishop of Exeter.
• May – The Anarchy: Robert, 1st Earl of Gloucester, leads a rebellion against King Stephen in favour of his half-sister Matilda.
• 10 June – Battle of Clitheroe: Having harried Craven in Yorkshire, David I of Scotland's nephew William fitz Duncan meets and defeats an English force on the edge of the Bowland Fells.
• 22 August – Battle of the Standard: English army defeats that of David I of Scotland at Cowton Moor near Northallerton in Yorkshire.
• December – Legatine conference in Westminster led by Alberic of Ostia.
• Alcester Abbey and Bourne Abbey established.
• 1139
• 8 January – Theobald of Bec enthroned as Archbishop of Canterbury.
• 9 April – the second Treaty of Durham between King Stephen of England and David I of Scotland; David's son Earl Henry takes control of most of Northumberland, excluding Bamburgh and Newcastle upon Tyne.
• June – Stephen orders the arrest of Roger of Salisbury, Justiciar and Bishop of Salisbury, and Alexander of Lincoln, Bishop of Lincoln.
• 30 September – The Anarchy: Empress Matilda lands near Arundel to begin her campaign to regain the throne from Stephen.
• 7 November – The Anarchy: Gloucester's army sacks Worcester.
• King's School, Pontefract, founded.

Births

• 1130
• Richard de Clare, 2nd Earl of Pembroke (died 1176)
• 1133
• 5 March – King Henry II of England (died 1189)
• 1136
• William of Newburgh, historian (died c. 1198)

Deaths

• year unknown, after 1130
• Robert of Bellême, 3rd Earl of Shrewsbury (born 1052)
• 1130
• Maud, Countess of Huntingdon (born 1074)
• 1134
• 28 March – Stephen Harding, Abbot of Cîteaux and saint (born c. 1050)
• Biddenden Maids, supposed earliest known conjoined twins (born 1100)
• 1135
• 1 December – King Henry I of England (born c. 1068)
• 1136
• 15 April – Richard de Clare, 1st Earl of Hertford (born 1094)
• 21 November – William de Corbeil, Archbishop of Canterbury (born c. 1070 in the Île-de-France)
• 1137
• 10 July – Pain fitzJohn, nobleman and royal administrator (killed in ambush)
• c. 26 September – William Warelwast, Bishop of Exeter and diplomat
• 1138
• 11 May – William de Warenne, 2nd Earl of Surrey
• 1139
• 11 December – Roger of Salisbury, bishop and Lord Chancellor

References